Dahl's aquatic frog (''Ranoidea dahlii'') is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

in the subfamily

Pelodryadinae Pelodryadinae, also known as Australian treefrogs (although not all members are arboreal), is a subfamily of frogs found in the region of Australia and New Guinea, and have also been introduced to New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a g ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to Australia. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, and intermittent freshwater marshes. Dahl's aquatic frog was once thought to be able to consume the

eggs An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo begins to develop. Egg, EGG or eggs may also refer to: Biology * Egg cell, the female reproductive cell (gamete) in oogamous organisms Food * Eggs as food Places * Egg, Austria * Egg, Switzerland ...

tadpole A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the Larva, larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully Aquatic animal, aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial animal, ...

s, and young of the invasive and

venomous Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

cane toad The cane toad (''Rhinella marina''), also known as the giant neotropical toad or marine toad, is a large, Terrestrial animal, terrestrial true toad native to South America, South and mainland Central America, but which has been Introduced spe ...

with no apparent ill effect, but this observation was based on a handful of captive survivals. Adults regurgitate the young toads, and avoid eating them in the future, or rarely swallow them; in this case, about half the adults die. These frogs do not appear to have an elevated resistance to bufotoxins compared to other Australian hylid frogs, and avoid these toads if they survive their first toad meal.

References

* Ranoidea (genus) Amphibians of Western Australia Amphibians of the Northern Territory Amphibians of Queensland Amphibians described in 1896 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Frogs of Australia Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{WesternAustralia-stub

See also

References